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我的生活海伦·凯勒自传
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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Chapter VIII

第八章

The first Christmas after Miss Sullivan came to Tuscumbia was a great event. Every one in the family prepared surprises for me, but what pleased me most, Miss Sullivan and I prepared surprises for everybody else. The mystery that surrounded the gifts was my greatest delight and amusement. My friends did all they could to excite my curiosity by hints and half-spelled sentences which they pretended to break off in the nick of time. Miss Sullivan and I kept up a game of guessing which taught me more about the use of language than any set lessons could have done. Every evening, seated round a glowing wood fire, we played our guessing game, which grew more and more exciting as Christmas approached.

对于我们家来说，苏立文小姐在图斯康比亚过第一个圣诞节可是件大事。家里每一个人都筹划着让我大吃一惊，但是最令我兴奋的是，我和苏立文小姐也筹划着让别人大吃一惊。对于那些神秘的礼物，我心里充满了巨大的喜悦感和好奇心。我的朋友们极尽所能，通过种种暗示和故意拼写了一半的句子来吊我的胃口。而我和苏立文小姐则继续玩猜谜游戏，同课堂所学的知识相比，这种寓教于乐的方式让我掌握了更多的语言技巧。每天晚上，我们坐在燃烧的炉火旁玩猜谜游戏。随着圣诞节的日益临近，我的心情也变得越来越兴奋。

On Christmas Eve the Tuscumbia schoolchildren had their tree, to which they invited me. In the centre of the schoolroom stood a beautiful tree ablaze and shimmering in the soft light, its branches loaded with strange, wonderful fruit. It was a moment of supreme happiness. I danced and capered round the tree in an ecstasy. When I learned that there was a gift for each child, I was delighted, and the kind people who had prepared the tree permitted me to hand the presents to the children. In the pleasure of doing this, I did not stop to look at my own gifts; but when I was ready for them, my impatience for the real Christmas to begin almost got beyond control. I knew the gifts I already had were not those of which friends had thrown out such tantalizing hints, and my teacher said the presents I was to have would be even nicer than these. I was persuaded, however, to content myself with the gifts from the tree and leave the others until morning.

圣诞前夜，图斯康比亚的学童们也有自己的圣诞树，他们邀请我去参加庆祝活动。在教室中间，矗立着一棵美丽的圣诞树，在柔和的光线下，它闪烁着晶莹的微光，它的枝桠上缀满了奇特的果实。这的确是一个普天同庆的欢乐时刻，我忘乎所以地绕着圣诞树又蹦又跳。当我得知每一个孩子都会得到一件礼物时，我更高兴了。那些装饰圣诞树的热心人允许我把礼物分发给别的孩子。在派发礼物的同时，我也忍不住在想着自己的那一份儿。其实我早就做好准备了，我激动得难以自抑，一心盼着尽快见到自己的礼物。我知道我的礼物不会是像朋友们暗示的那些东西，我的老师告诉我，我得到的礼物要比传言中的东西好得多。终于，到快天亮的时候，我心满意足地得到了圣诞树上的礼物。

That night, after I had hung my stocking, I lay awake a long time, pretending to be asleep and keeping alert to see what Santa Claus would do when he came. At last I fell asleep with a new doll and a white bear in my arms. Next morning it was I who waked the whole family with my first "Merry Christmas!" I found surprises, not in the stocking only, but on the table, on all the chairs, at the door, on the very window-sill; indeed, I could hardly walk without stumbling on a bit of Christmas wrapped up in tissue paper. But when my teacher presented me with a canary, my cup of happiness overflowed.

圣诞夜，我把自己的长袜挂好后，躺在床上久久不能入眠。于是，我一边装作睡着的样子，一边又保持着警觉，我想看看圣诞老人会在什么时候来。最后，我还是搂着我的新娃娃和小白熊睡着了。第二天一早，我第一个起来唤醒全家人，并且祝他们“圣诞快乐”。令我惊奇不已的是，礼物不仅仅藏在袜子里，连桌子上、椅子上、门边，还有窗台上都堆满了礼物。事实上，在薄纱纸包装的圣诞礼物堆中，我几乎难以迈步了。当老师把一只金丝雀当做礼物送给我时，我简直从心里乐开了花。

Little Tim was so tame that he would hop on my finger and eat candied cherries out of my hand. Miss Sullivan taught me to take all the care of my new pet. Every morning after breakfast I prepared his bath, made his cage clean and sweet, filled his cups with fresh seed and water from the well-house, and hung a spray of chickweed in his swing.

小蒂姆是如此地温顺，它在我的手指上跳来跳去，还从我手里叼樱桃蜜饯吃。苏立文小姐教会了我怎样照顾新宠物。每天早餐后，我就会为小鸟洗澡，还要把它的笼子打扫干净，再给它的小杯子里添上新鲜的种子和清水，最后还要在它的秋千上悬挂一朵绽开的繁缕。

One morning I left the cage on the window-seat while I went to fetch water for his bath. When I returned I felt a big cat brush past me as I opened the door. At first I did not realize what had happened; but when I put my hand in the cage and Tim's pretty wings did not meet my touch or his small pointed claws take hold of my finger, I knew that I should never see my sweet little singer again.

一天早晨，我把鸟笼放在了窗边的椅子上，然后去为它打洗澡水。就在我返回来开门时，我感觉到有一只大猫从身边溜了过去。起初我并没有意识到会出事，但是当我把手伸进笼子里时，才发现已经摸不到蒂姆漂亮的翅膀了，它尖细的小爪子也没有握住我的手指。那一刻，我知道我再也见不到我可爱的小歌唱家了。